HORSE. 



781 



nature, and as accompanying man in his migra- 

 tion over different regions, or as spread into places 

 where previously unknown, bv the intercourse of one 

 nation with another. But the horse has another, and 

 in so far as we can predicate morality in a creature 

 unendowed with an immortal spirit, a moral history. 

 Many animals live in a state of perhaps more close 

 domestication than the horse does ; and the dog es- 

 pecially, being one which in a state of nature requires 

 more art and stratagem for finding his food, is ca- 

 pable of evincing his attachment to his master in a 

 greater variety of ways. The dog will fight for his 

 master, will fawn upon his master, and will watch and 

 defend his master's property, with a fidelity perhaps 

 unequalled by the human race. The horse does not 

 fight of himself, for his nature is the very opposite of 

 pugnacious ; the horse does not fawn, for the spirit 

 of the horse is noble ; but the horse, if the expression 

 may be used, stands to his rider more in the relation 

 of a companion and equal, than any other animal 

 stands to man. There is, also, in the gratified look, 

 the erected ears, the arching neck, and the subdued 

 and murmuring neigh of the horse, at the sight of 

 that rider with whom he has been long associated, 

 something more touching, or if you will, more poeti- 

 cal, than in the fawning of all the dogs in the world. 

 Then there is no danger which the horse will not 

 brave along with his rider ; and on those occasions 

 man very often borrows courage of the spirit of the 

 unimal. In the darkness of night, when the traveller 

 knows not his way, and would be incapable of reach- 

 ing his home, his faithful horse will carry him in safety 

 through the most difficult places ; and be the path 

 ever so intricate, and the obstacles ever so many, if 

 the rein is entirely given up to the horse, not a foot 

 of his will slip or be misplaced on the most difficult 

 ground, and not one of the obstacles will he come in 

 contact with. This is a curious point in physiology, 

 but it is as true as it is worthy of admiration. The 

 firm and entire hoof of the horse, even when shod 

 with iron, seems to acquire in the dark a sense of 

 touch equal to the most delicate finger ; and though 

 we cannot account for it, every hair upon the skin of 

 the animal appears to be instinct with all the senses 

 necessary for guiding him along, with the same cer- 

 tainty as though it were clear daylight all about him. 

 If the horse and the rider have been long acquainted 

 with each other, and have frequently made nocturnal 

 journeys, it is of no consequence, if the journey is a 

 homeward one, whether the rider pays the slightest 

 attention to the matter or not ; tor there have been 

 many instances in which an old and trusty horse has 

 carried his rider asleep for a distance of more than 

 twenty miles. There have been also instances of fa- 

 vourite ponies carrying blind musicians from house to 

 house for the purpose of giving lessons ; and indeed 

 it would be impossible to enumerate half the instances 

 which are well authenticated, of quiet and slow-going 

 horses finding and keeping the way without any as- 

 sistance from their riders ; and the .same applies to 

 horses habitually used in draught. 



The case of horses of higher mettle, though not 

 more extraordinary, is more spirit-stirring ; and it is 

 impossible not to be struck and pleased with the ex- 

 pression of glee in hunters at the morning muster, 

 and especially at the notes of the horn ; and if the 

 chace is long and lagging, the winding of the horn will 

 spirit them up, and they will spring forward as if en- 

 dowed with new life. 



It is in the battle-field, however, that the horse ap- 

 pears in the full grandeur of his character. His neck 

 s clothed with thunder : " the glory of his nostrils is 

 terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in 

 his strength ; he goeth out to meet the armed men. 

 He mocketh at fear, and is not arfrightened ; neither 

 turneth he back from the svvovd. The quiver rattleth 

 against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He 

 swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage ; nei- 

 ther believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. 

 He sayeth among the sound of the trumpets, Ha, 

 Ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder 

 of the captains, and the shouting." 



Such is the description of the horse in battle, as 

 iven by the great Legislator of the Jews, at least 

 three thousand three hundred and sixty years ago ; 

 and even now that the instruments of war have been 

 rendered more powerful and terrific than they were 

 at the time when this description was written, the 

 horse still exults in, and appears to enjoy, the battle- 

 field as much as ever. 



The invention of gunpowder has invested the mo- 

 dern battle-field with all the attributes of that thun- 

 der which the ancients regarded as being possessed 

 only by the chief of their gods ; but even this, after 

 a very little training, has no effect upon the war- 

 horse further than to excite his courage, and make 

 him more brave and bold amid the augmented terrors. 

 Roaring artillery, sheeted flame, curling smoke, gleam- 

 ing steel, rolling drums, sounding trumpets, and all the 

 sights and the din of the hottest conflict, never affect 

 either the courage or the coolness of the veteran 

 charger. He will bear his rider as willingly up to 

 the cannon's mouth, or to, or even on, the point of 

 the lance, with the same cheerful obedience as if he 

 were riding to a field of the richest pasture ; and 

 though beaten back, and smarting with wounds, he 

 will return again and again to the charge ; nor will 

 he quit his duty until he has made the final sacrifice, 

 and his bones arc gathered to the unseemly heap in 

 which horses and their riders lie promiscuously toge- 

 ther. But it is only while there is a rider on his 

 back that the horse continues thus obedient to his 

 duty ; for when the ranks are broken, and the riders 

 gone, horses may be seen careering over the field, as 

 if absolutely in quest of new riders to bring them 

 again into action ; and it is said that, upon these oc- 

 casions, the horses rarely, if ever, trample upon the 

 bodies of the wounded or the dead, with which the 

 field is scattered. If a trumpet sound, too, the rider- 

 less horse, if not frantic with the agony of wounds, 

 will follow upon the sound, but will turn away again 

 if he finds that the uniform of the party is not like 

 that of his own regiment. If his rider falls, when the 

 horse is at considerable speed, the horse instantly 

 stops, so that an exchange is frequently soon made of 

 a rider who has lost his horse, and a horse that has 

 lost his rider. Veteran horses are rarely, if ever, 

 panic-struck : and though they are, oF course, liable to 

 be taken prisoners, they never desert to the enemy, 

 indeed, though war is a trade which every one must 

 wish to see abolished, except those who remain at 

 home and gratify their ambition, or other lusts, by 

 the hardship and death of their fellow-creatures, yet, 

 as the characters of the horse in battle are all virtuous 

 without the least mixture of vice, his military glory is 

 as spotless as it is great. 



Many anecdotes are told of the strong attachment 

 shown by particular horses to particular riders, with 



